June 20, 2013

New Blue Ribbon Card Sketch

I was going through my card stash and ran across an old card that became the sketch inspiration for this Blue Ribbon card. I made this card for my husband for father’s day. Using the card design sketch and the color coach to choose a masculine palette this came together very quickly.

This is the card that acted as the design inspiration. With the Blue Ribbon card I covered the front panel completely with the ‘best’ ribbon. I also left the corners square on the tab for a more masculine effect.

The design of the blue ribbon makes it super easy to put together with coordinating punches. And I’ve used this stamp set a lot for masculine cards this year. It tends to lend itself to a masculine design. You can see how I punched out this star burst in Early Espresso with the scallop punch here.

Here’s the card recipe:

(All supplies are Stampin’ Up! Click on the product link to visit the online store for pictures, details & ordering.)

Stamps: Blue Ribbon wood-mount #125979 or clear-mount #125981, Hearts a Flutter wood-mount #131922 or clear-mount #129252

Ink: Marina Mist #126962, Tangerine Tango #126946, Early Espresso #126974

Paper: Whisper White cardstock #100730, Marina Mist #119682, Tangerine Tango #111349, Early Espresso #119686

Extras: 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle punch #118874, 1-3/4″ Scallop Circle punch #119854, 1-3/8″ Circle punch #119860, Vintage Trinkets #118764, Paper Snips #103579, Dimensionals #104430

GRAB YOUR GREETINGS AND SAVE! 25% off three popular stamp sets. Ends June 30th.

This made a great father’s day card, but it could also make a wonderful masculine birthday or graduation card.

Enjoy! Julie

June 18, 2013

Really Good Greetings Thank You Flowers

I’ve had the idea for this thank you card swimming around my head since the introduction of the new Stampin’ Up! In Colors – Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Pistachio Pudding. If you look closely you’ll see that the front panel is scored into sections, then in each section is a Floral Fusion Sizzlets flower with the ‘gee, thanks’ (from the new Stampin’ Up! Really Good Greetings stamp set) stamped in the top middle section in Strawberry Slush.

I even made a matching envelope. The envelope was stamped with the flowers from Betsy’s Blossoms in Strawberry Slush. I’m making a coordinating envelope with almost every card these days. It doesn’t take much to do and I think it makes the card extra special. But if you are like me you are wondering about the dimensions on this card.

I had to do some real math to get this panel to work out just right. Here’s my math. The card base measures 3-3/4″ x 5-1/2″. The front panel is 3-1/2″ x 5-1/4″. The front panel is scored across at 1-3/4″ and 3-1/2″ and then turned and scored crosswise at 1-3/4″. When you are done, each scored section is 1-3/4″ square. Of course, the Simply Scored Scoring Tool made this a super simple task!

The new Strawberry Slush In Color is definitely one of my favorites, so I used that to stamp the greeting. If you stamp your greeting on an angle, you didn’t have to worry about lining it up just right to make it straight. Plus, I think it adds more whimsy and interest to the card. What do you think?

Each flower was centered with a circle of contrasting cardstock and topped with a rhinestone. I just love the self-adhesive rhinestone Basic Jewels. And I love the fact that they also come with a few rhinestones attached in a line, which was perfect to underline ‘gee, thanks’.

Here’s the card recipe:

(All supplies are Stampin’ Up! Click on the product link to visit the online store for pictures, details & ordering.)

Stamps: Really Good Greetings wood-mount #130330 or clear-mount #130333, Betsy’s Blossoms wood-mount #131955 or clear-mount #126006

Ink: Strawberry Slush #131178, Crisp Cantaloupe #131176, Pistachio Pudding #131177, Coastal Cabana #131175, Baked Brown Sugar #131174

Paper: Whisper White #100730

Extras: Big Shot #113439, Sizzlets Floral Fusion #115959, Simply Scored Scoring Tool #122334, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack #118309, Rhinestones #119246, Dimensionals #104430

GRAB YOUR GREETINGS AND SAVE! 25% off three popular stamp sets. Ends June 30th.

Enjoy! Julie

June 14, 2013

Best Dad Ever Father’s Day Card

Just stopping by for a few minutes to share this ‘Best Dad Ever’ bowtie Father’s Day card from Stampin’ Up! You can find all the details here. I hope this will inspire you to remember the dads in your life this weekend.

I’m traveling today so not much time to write. As I mentioned yesterday, I drove to Nashville to be here for my niece’s bridal shower earlier in the week and I was supposed to have gone home two days ago, but my family just kept talking me into staying just one more day! Before I knew it I had been here all week and I’ve got to get home and back to work!

It’s been so fun being here. We have watched movies, visited and played a lot of Settlers of Catan.

Have you played Settlers of Catan? It’s addictive! It starts out slow but pretty quickly it starts to get really interesting and then it’s over, which just makes you want to play again. We changed the rules a little though because we were too competitive and it caused problems. I’ve known families that stopped playing it because it was causing so much animosity. So I came up with new rules that we adopted that make it a more friendly game. We do not use the robber at all and I’m sure purists wouldn’t approve of my new rules. Not using the robber does change the ability to stop someone who is racing ahead but in the spirit of family fun, the changes are worth it.

OK, enough about all that. Have a wonderful weekend with the fathers in your life and don’t forget to get that hand-stamped Father’s Day card made! Do it today before you forget. What are you doing for Father’s Day?

CHECK OUT THE LATEST SPECIALS HERE.

Enjoy! Julie

June 13, 2013

Mosaic Madness Bridal Shower Gift Card

I cannot even tell you how much fun I had playing with these new products!!! Label Love and Mosaic Madness stamp sets with the matching embossing folder and punches, and new colors – Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate, Pistachio Pudding, and Coastal Cabana.

Remember my cute niece Danideej from here, here and here. She’s getting married!! I went to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend her bridal shower, and I wanted a special card to include with her gift. I made this card with Danielle in mind.

This card measures 4-1/4″ square. The white panel is 4″ square and embossed with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder. I always trim out my panel first before embossing. If you do it the other way around, you run the risk of damaging the embossing while you’re trimming – so cut first.

I also decorated a standard-sized envelope to match the card by stamping Crisp Cantaloupe three times without reinking which created this shaded design.

This cute, clean card is easy to make with the matching stamps and punch. I simply stamp the mosaics in the colors I wanted and quickly punch them out and adhered them to the embossed background. Easy peasy!

By stamping the Label Love ‘just for you’ twice in Smoky Slate and Crisp Cantaloupe and then punching and trimming, I made this two-tone tag. The natural trim is an unexpected element, which is what I was going for. I love the texture and contrast.

Here’s the card recipe:

(All supplies are Stampin’ Up! Click on the product link to visit the online store for pictures, details & ordering.)

Bundle: Mosaic Madness wood-mount stamps with punch #132734 or clear-mount stamps with punch #132733

Label Love wood-mount stamps with punch #132723 or clear-mount stamps with punch #132722

Ink: Smoky Slate #131179, Crisp Cantaloupe #131176, Pistachio Pudding #131177, Coastal Cabana #131175

Paper: Whisper White #100730

Extras: Big Shot #113439, Modern Mosaic embossing folder #129984, Mosaic Punch #131267, Artisan Label Punch #130920, Natural Trim #129287, Dimensionals #104430

Enjoy! Julie

June 11, 2013

Digital Tuesday: Make a Graduation Announcement

My son James recently graduated from high school.

Hopefully, soon I’ll have some better pictures to share from the occasion but for now here’s a couple of OK snap shots. (That’s my mom in this photo with James)

And here’s the graduation announcement I made for him in MDS. I’m out of town so I just have this phone picture I took of the prototype which isn’t the best picture of the announcement, but hopefully you can get the idea.

I thought about using this ‘Guess What!’ designer card template with the announcement inside, as in ‘guess what! James graduated’. But I decided that might be a little goofy. 8) This announcement I made includes the honeycomb and the hexagon brush stamps from the Lemonade Stand Digital Designer Kit.

The Lemonade Stand Digital Kit was available during Sale-a-bration. I love this kit with it’s trendy designs. If you got this kit during Sale-a-bration make sure you load it and take a look at all the elements. If you didn’t just check out the other digital kits available. You are sure to find something you love!

His high school colors were black and green so I used Wild Wasabi for the hexagon stamps and for some of the text. The rest is printed in black. Other than the stamps I just used various fonts to complete the announcement. Then I trimmed out the card fronts at 4″ x 5-1/4″ and mounted it on Basic Black cardstock measuring 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″. The picture was lightly adhered to the front so the recipient can remove the picture for their wallet if they would like to. Of course, grandparents love that!!

Stampin’ Up! is committed to bringing you fresh, exciting digital content each and every week! And right now get 25% off on MDS products. Click the banner above for more details.

Check out all the latest digital downloads all in one place or browse by digital categories including freebies!

Check out this week’s downloads below. Click on the download title to see it in the store, or click on the images to get an even closer view. You can also click here to view a PDF with additional details about this week’s downloads.

Hash It Out Greeting Card Templates

Label It Stamp Brush Set

Summer Possibilities Kit

Venetian Romance Designer Series Paper

SAVE 25% ON SELECT DIGITAL CONTENT AND PRINTING UNTIL JUNE 15TH. Digital content 25% off: ensembles, calendars, photobooks, swatchbooks. Print products 25% off: photobooks, swatchbooks, cards, tags, individual pages and calendars. Today is a good day to send all your projects to print. You can do it straight from the software.

Enjoy! Julie